


Honor's Coin

by bzarcher



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Podfic Welcome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-14 03:31:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7997020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bzarcher/pseuds/bzarcher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hanzo Shimada believes that with every death comes honor, but he is not speaking of his enemies' deaths.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Honor's Coin

Everyone saw what was happening, but Mercy was the first to understand why.

No one expected Hanzo to be a front line combatant when he’d accepted his brother’s offer to join Overwatch. His skills with a bow were impressive, to say the least, but they also meant that he could join the battle from a distance, raining arrows and divine wrath on anyone who threatened them. Yet there he was, always in the thick of the battle, using the special arrows he carried to drop Talon thugs or rogue omnics in droves. Arrows, bow, dragons, fists – any and all tools he could use to defeat their enemies.

He was successful – at times, frighteningly so - but it came at great cost.

Mercy had used her abilities to bring him back from the brink of death – and occasionally beyond – far too much for her liking. She knew Genji had attempted to convince his elder brother to fight from a safer distance. McCree, also. Even Jack had attempted to “put some sense into his head”, but the prideful Dragon continued his ways.

The clue came to her when she heard Hanzo mutter in Japanese after she had used her staff’s abilities to return him to life after a hand to hand engagement with Reaper had left the archer with major lacerations, a shotgun wound in his side, and a punctured lung. She almost didn’t hear his words over the surge of energy being released by the Caduceus, but she caught “- _meiyo, shōkan-to.”_

She knew a bit of Japanese from her work with Overwatch. She had to think for a few minutes before she finally was able to translate it into “with honor, redemption.”

Given the context, it chilled her.

Hanzo’s elusive habits made it difficult to speak with him privately, but she was finally able to ask him to stop into the medical bay for a checkup, using her desire to check how his lung had healed as a pretext.

“Are you experiencing any pain when you breathe deeply?”

“No.”

“Any shortness of breath?”

“Nothing unusual – heavy exertion will cause some discomfort.”

Angela made a soft tut as she ran her staff carefully over his exposed back. “I have no doubt I am not the first doctor to suggest you give up smoking.”

Hanzo’s snort in response to that sounded amused. “No, you are not.”

“Are you…experiencing any other kind of distress?”

Hanzo tensed. “I am not certain what you mean.”

Angela sighed. She knew this was going to be difficult. “Athena, privacy protocol AZ-1, please. No monitoring of this room until I lift the restriction.”

The AI made a chiming sound, and she moved to a stool across from the patient bed where the older Japanese man sat.

Hanzo’s mouth had set into a deeper scowl than what Hana called his usual “Resting Ninja Face.”

He remained silent as she sat, so Mercy decided to make the first move.

“Hanzo, since joining Overwatch, you have been at death’s door more than any other agent.”

The archer remained silent.

“The Caduceus technology is still in its infancy. The fact that the resurrection process works is a miracle – but I have grave concerns about anyone being forced to undergo the process repeatedly.”

Hanzo stood abruptly, thrusting an arm through the sleeve of his yukata, then quickly yanking it back up over his right shoulder. His face was a storm cloud as he brusquely moved past her. He was halfway to the door, the ribbon in his hair trailing behind him, when she spoke again.

“How many more times do you feel you must die for Genji?”

Hanzo sucked in a sharp breath, as if she’d struck him in the back with one of his own arrows.

“I heard what you said, the last time I brought you back. ‘ _Subete no shi wa meiyo o fuzoku shite imasu. Meiyo, shōkan to.’_ ” Her pronunciation isn’t perfect, but it’s good enough to make the archer slowly turn, and face her.

“With every death comes honor,” Mercy translates his words, “with honor, redemption.” Her eyes searched his, looking for something she could not name. “You are not the first soldier I have treated who wanted to die in battle. Or the first who felt he had to die to expunge his sins.” Her lips quirked in some bitter cousin of a smile. “I will admit, though, that you are the first to do it multiple times. From a clinical standpoint, it's a most unique form of suicidal ideation.”

That got Hanzo’s attention. His nostrils flared, eyes narrowing. She almost fancied the dragons that wrapped around his bared arm twitched slightly in response to their master’s anger.

“You know nothing –“

“Don’t I?”

Hanzo froze, as shocked by the flash of anger in her voice as the fact that Mercy had interrupted him. Genji had to have told his brother who had been responsible for saving his life. Hanzo had to know all too well what kind of condition his brother had been in when he came into her care.

“I have heard Genji tell the story of what lead to your fight in _Shimada-Jō_. I saw the wounds you left on him. I know _exactly_ what had to be done to save him.” Guilt began to cloud his eyes, and Mercy took a slow breath, calming herself. “But I have also seen what you have done, since Genji asked you to join us. How he has slowly been opening himself up to you again. How you have both begun to find peace with each other.”

Mercy chose her next words carefully. The elder Shimada was still standing stock-still, as if she was a predator ready to devour him in an open field. She needed to reach him, not send Hanzo spiraling further into the abyss he’d made for himself.

“I know that he has forgiven you, Hanzo. I believe you might someday forgive yourself. But you cannot buy that forgiveness with your own blood.”

Hanzo seemed to be trying to release his own anger, his eyes closing. His chest heaved, then slowly settled. “If not blood, then what coin would you have me offer to reclaim my honor?”

Mercy gently laid a hand on his bare shoulder. “Someone once told me that honor lies in one’s actions. Your willingness to fight at your brother’s side says much. So does your willingness to sacrifice to protect others. You have acted with honor, and we are grateful for everything you have done.” Part of her wanted to tell him more – that he did not need to sacrifice his life so needlessly – but she knew it might be too much.

As it was, it seemed her words did resonate. Hanzo’s eyes had gone distant, but not with dismissal. After a long moment, he looked at her again for a long moment, then bowed to her, fluid and formal.

“I…must consider what you have said, Dr. Ziegler.”

“I understand,” Mercy nodded. There was no point in pressing further tonight. “Just please know…I am not a board certified psychologist, but if you ever need to speak with someone, I will consider myself bound by my professional confidentiality.”

“ _Arigatogozaimasu._ Good evening, Doctor.”

“Good night, Hanzo.”

She waited for a few more minutes before lifting the privacy protocols, then left the medical bay herself.

Overwatch was called into the field for missions four more times that month.

She did not need to use the resurrection protocol in any of them.

**Author's Note:**

> Two stories posted in one day? What the hell is going on?
> 
> The more I thought about Hanzo's intro voice line, and the emotion in his voice when he says it, this fic just started growing in my head.


End file.
